Organization Capital and International Acquisitions (with Florian Bauer and Arpit Raswant) Journal of Business Research, 2025, 189, 115011.
Abstract: As a critical source of sustainable competitive advantage, organization capital combines human skills with physical assets and is of particular value in complex strategic endeavors such as international acquisitions. Our research examines the role of organization capital (OC) in firm internationalization through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). We focus on the effect of OC on the initiation of cross-border M&A deals and value creation after deal closing. Further, we investigate the role of acquisition experience and whether acquisition experience allows firms with high OC to better allocate and direct resources along the cross-border M&A process. We draw on longitudinal data from listed US firms spanning 24 years of M&A activity between 1996 and 2019 and find that firms with higher organization capital are more likely to internationalize through cross-border M&A because of freed-up resources to recognize opportunities. We further find that firms with higher organization capital sustain performance and significantly create value for investors in the short and long run because of a better understanding of capturing value from rare strategic events. We also show that acquisition experience strengthens the relationship of organization capital with firm internationalization, but we do not find a significant effect on value creation after deal closing. Our results offer novel and robust insights into the importance of organization capital in firm internationalization and value creation in international markets.
Presentations: Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2022, Academy of International Business Conference 2022, European Academy of Management Conference 2022, Academy of International Business Conference 2021 Online.
Central Bank Governor Transitions and Corporate Investment (Job Market Paper) Paper available on request.
Abstract: We study whether the transition cycles of central bank governors impact corporate investment. Most governors serve fixed terms, so transitions are predetermined while the successor’s stance is uncertain, creating plausibly exogenous variation in monetary policy uncertainty. We construct a revenue-weighted measure of firms’ exposure to governor transitions for 22,509 companies across 43 countries from 2004 to 2022. A standard-deviation increase in exposure reduces investment by 2.2 percent relative to the mean. The effect is pronounced in interest- and exchange-rate sensitive industries, in large firms, and in countries with weaker central bank independence. These results demonstrate that leadership cycles at central banks have a tangible impact on investment.
Informed Trading by Mutual Funds: Evidence from M&A Activity (with Buhui Qiu and Joakim Westerholm) Paper available on request.
Abstract: We develop a new methodology to detect mutual funds transaction-by-transaction data and show that mutual funds take positions in the targets before merger and acquisition (M&A) announcements. We show that mutual funds gradually increase their ownership in the target firms well before public announcements, beginning around 189 days prior to the event, and earn substantial abnormal profits following announcements. We provide evidence that this strategy is information-driven. In addition to well-documented information channels, we find that mutual funds earn significantly higher profits when their trades overlap with same-day, same-direction trades by corporate insiders, indicating direct information transmission through trading networks. Overall, our results confirm that mutual funds benefit from M&A events through superior information acquisition.
International Business as a Multidimensional Coordination Problem (with Abdullah Al-Masum and Joakim Westerholm) Paper available on request.
Abstract: International business (IB) research has produced a rich and diverse body of scholarship on multinational enterprise behaviour, yet no single perspective fully captures the complexity of cross-border coordination. This paper develops a multidimensional coordination framework that reconceptualises international business as the organisation and governance of economic activity across national borders. Synthesising 21 complementary literature streams, we distinguish analytical levels from recurring coordination mechanisms and theorise four interacting analytical dimensions: efficiency and coordination, uncertainty and learning, power and distribution, and legitimacy and embeddedness. We argue that these dimensions jointly shape internationalisation, governance, and firm performance through complementarities, trade-offs, and context-dependent interactions whose relative salience varies across institutional, technological, and geopolitical environments. By offering a higher-order conceptual architecture that integrates diverse theoretical perspectives within a coherent multidimensional framework, the paper provides a foundation for cumulative theory development and future empirical research in international business.